The traditional axle assembly includes a carrier housing that houses a differential gear set having a ring gear. The carrier housing can also include a lubrication sump that contains a volume of a lubricant to lubricate the differential gear set. As the ring gear of the differential gear set turns, the ring gear can act as a pump thus moving the lubricant throughout the axle assembly. While the lubricant can lubricate the differential gear set, the lubricant can also cool the differential gear set. It will be appreciated that as the rotational velocity of the gears of the differential gear set increase, the lubricant can be chaotically churned about the carrier housing. As the churning of the lubricant increases, the ability of the lubricant to cool the differential gear set decreases.